MADONNA – XEXTREME FAN STORY

FASHION EDITORApril 21, 2012

Photography & Digital Editing: Bogdan Stanga (www.devioushoney.net)

Art Direction & Wardrobe: Inoisell Miranda (www.inostyling.com)

Model: Kathleen @ MC2(www.mc2mm.com)

Hair Styling :Carlos Vera (www.visionofvera.com)

It was in the year of 1995 in a small beach town in Venezuela, where as a 15 year old, buying imported peanut M & M at the local kiosk, an international magazine caught my attention. Spending a week’s allowance, I purchased my 1st Harper’s Bazaar Magazine with Madonna on cover, shot by Peter Lindberg with iconic, breathtaking images that awoke my desire to learn more about how such timeless work can be created, to be curious about photographers, fashion, the world and a strange, uncontrollable compulsion to buy every magazine with Madonna on cover began.

I watched the Grammy winning – Best Long Form Music Video, “Blond Ambition tour 1990” around the same time. She was faking orgasms on a red velvet bed, dressed in her signature Jean Paul Gautier’s cone bras, having turned the stage into a theatrical cathedral where she danced and sang her soul away to millions of fans. The material girl had become an artist of empowerment at this point. Setting her inhibitions aside, she engaged in a sexual exploration journey that she openly shared with the world, dropping her clothes off for the lens of Steven Meisel, in a room dressed as a man debuting guys in fishnets and heels for a cover editorial story for Rolling Stones, and publishing an epic photographic book simply called “SEX” in 1992. This included an alter ego she named Dita that started a revolutionary era of a feminine movement that encouraged woman to own their power and everyone to free themselves from their own constraints. An attitude that perhaps on a subconscious level I adopted, questioning the establishment and not taking ‘no’ for an answer. It inspired me to give it all up and follow my artistic instincts and dreams.

As I walk the streets of New York today, a fashion editor and celebrity stylist running around between photo shoots, I think about a time when all I treasured in the world was the collection of Madonna magazines I gathered in my suitcase, along with the $200 in pocket when I left home at 19. I realize my passion for magazines, fashion and self-expression go hand in hand with my fascination with The Queen Of Pop.

The publishing phenomenon Louise Veronica Ciccone incarnated as Madonna, back in the early 80’s, has manifested herself within every possible art and fashion form known to man. In the past 30 years we have witnessed her metamorphosis as an integrated artist, and in one way or another have been affected by it. New York has been the epicenter of some of the most brilliant careers in history, and arguably the most conspicuous ones, have been a part of the pop star’s career. It all started with photographer Steven Meisel in 1984, the “Like A Virgin” look that appeared in her 2^nd album cover and the world saw her face on Rolling Stones magazine for the 1st time, with a daring, sexy look that drove every teenage girl mad. Madonna replicas were found everywhere. It was the brilliant, and forever missed photographer Herb Ritts, who would later capture some of the most iconic images of Madonna to date; her 1^st Vanity Fair & Vogue cover in 1987/89, the “True Blue” era, grabbing her crotch on the cover of Interview magazine in 1989, posing in lingerie in men’s restrooms and a collection of timeless pictures that gave life to her first greatest hits album “The Immaculate collection”, which she dedicated to the pope, her “divine inspiration” in 1990.

Over the decades Madonna’s collaborations with the leading forces in fashion and entertainment is beyond belief. The fashion world’s preeminent photographers Mario Testino, Patrick Demarchelier, Tom Munro, Steven Klein and most recently Mert Alas & Marcus Piggot, alongside wardrobe wizard Arianne Phillips, have all been part responsible for the ever revolutionizing interpretations of herself in this new millennium. Following her print trajectory so closely over the years, has taught me to think outside the box, to constantly transform the way people see themselves, as beauty and style come from within and also to chose my teams wisely. I was organizing my collection of over 200 magazines on their new shelves, when I decided to share them with the world in celebration of Madonna’s # 1 album MDNA, and the 5^th issue of XEX. I gathered an elite team of artists, together we created the ultimate Madonna fan, she is a girl who dresses, styles her hair, and does her make up, inspired in the one and only Queen, if only I was a girl… Every single magazine in my valued collection was taken into our studio and photographed for this editorial.

This is my XEX – Treme Fan story, and homage to the ultimate Queen Of Pop…

Long live the Queen!!!

CREDITS:

Picture # 1- Blond Ambition Fan

Yasmin Black & Gold Metal Cut Out Bandage Bodycon dress by CELEB Boutique (www.celebboutique.com), Red fingerless leather gloves by Funky Sexy

Magazines:

1- Vogue Oct 92 by Steven Meisel

2- Harper’s Bazaar May 94 by Peter Lindbergh

3- Q March 98 by Rankin

4- Vanity Fair Oct 92 by Steven Meisel

5- Q Dec 94 by Andy Earl

6- Interview March 01 by Jean-Baptiste Mondino

7- Harper’s Bazaar Feb 99 by Patrick Demarchelier

8- Vanity Fair Apr 91 by Steven Meisel

9- Vogue Oct 96 by Steven Meisel

10- Q Special Edition 03 by Dah Len/Corbis

11- The Face 91 by Steven Meisel

12- Q Special Edition 02 by Rankin

13- Harper’s Bazaar Jun 90 by Jean-Baptiste Mondino

14- The Face 00 by Dah Len

15- The Face 94 by Patrick Demarchelier

16- Rolling Stones 98 by David LaChapelle

17- Vanity Fair Apr 90 by Helmut Newton

18- Q May 08 by Steven Klein

19- Rolling Stone 00 by Jean Baptiste Mondino

20- Rolling Stone 85 by Herb Ritts

Picture #2- Truth or Dare Fan

Vegas Limited Edition Ruffle Bandage Bodycon dress by CELEB Boutique (www.celebboutique.com), Onyx Rosary necklace and Swarovski rings stylist’s owned.

Magazines:

1- Icon # 13 11- Icon # 29 21- Icon # 19

2- Icon # 15 12- Icon # 45 22- Icon # 21

3- Icon # 12 13- Icon # 14 23- Icon # 23

4- Icon # 17 14- Icon # 36 24- Icon # 27

5- Icon # 16 15- Icon # 15 25- Icon # 32

6- Icon # 30 16- Icon # 44 26- Icon # 26

7- Icon # 21 17- Icon # 39 27- Icon # 37

8- Icon # 42 18- Icon # 28 28- Icon # 24

9- Icon # 41 19- Icon # 33 29- Icon # 43

10- Icon # 46 20- Icon # 18 30- Icon # 40

Picture #3- Rain Fan

Halle Metal Embellished Black Cut Out Bodycon Dress by CELEB Boutique (www.celebboutique.com), Hat by Top Shop

Magazines:

1- Rolling Stone 84 by Steven Meisel

2- Rolling Stone 86 by Matthew Roiston

3- Rolling Stone 87 by Herb Ritts

4- Rolling Stone 89 by Herb Ritts

5- Rolling Stone 89 by Herb Ritts

6- Spin 87 by Iain McKell/Retna

7- Rolling Stone 85 by Herb Ritts

8- Interview 89 by Herb Ritts

9- Rolling Stone 91 by Steven Meisel

10- Spin 96 by Glen Luchford

11- Interview 92 by AP/Wide World Photos

12- Interview 89 by Koto Bolofo

13- Interview 85 by Herb Ritts

14- Spin 98 by Inez Van Lamsweerde & Vinoodh Matadin

15- Interview 93 by Herb Ritts

16- Q August 06 by Lime Foto/Eyevine

Picture #4- Ray of Light Fan

Fox Black Mesh Bandage Dress by CELEB Boutique (www.celebboutique.com)

Magazines:

1- W 09 by Steven Klein

2- W 06 by Steven Klein

3- Genre 02 by Mert Atlas & Marcus Piggot

4- Esquire 94 by Wayne Maser

5- Spin 00 by Herb Ritts

6- Interview 93 by Herb Ritts

7- Vanity Fair (Italy) 05 by Tim Walker

8- Jane 02 by Daniel Smith

9- Jane 00 by Dah Len

10- Details 94 by Bettina Rheims

11- Billboard 99 As Norma from Bellini’s Opera

12- Out 06 by Annika Aschberg

13- Vogue Paris 93 by Ellen Von Unwerth

14- Billboard 05 by Steven Klein

15- Vogue (Paris) 04 by Steven Klein

16- In Style 01 by Regan Cameron

17- L’Uomo Vogue 05 by Steven Klein

18- Vogue (British) 89 by Herb Ritts

19- Dazed & Confused 08 by Steven Klein

20- B &W 05 by Curtis Knapp

21- W 03 by Steven Klein

22- American Photo 01 by Regan Cameron

23- Tattler 05 by Steven Klein

24- Pop 02 by Mert Atlas & Marcus Piggot

25- Entertainment 92 by Steven Meisel

26- Vogue (Brazil) 08 by Steven Klein

27- Entertainment 91 by Steven Meisel

28- Record Collector 06 by Redferns

29- Elle 06 by Gilles Bensimon

30- New York 06 by Richard Corman/Retna

31- Harpers & Queen 05 by Lorenzo Agius

Picture # 5- MDNA Fan

Lingerie by La Perla, Fishnets by Givenchy, red leather glove by Funky Sexy, knee high boots by Freelance – Paris, Pearl/Swarovski Ring and white gold crucifix stylist’s owned.